Electro-sensing layer constructed of a WO3/CuO nanocomposite, for the electrochemical determination of 2-phenylphenol fungicide.

The abstract highlights the development of an electroanalytical sensor for the detection of 2-phenylphenol (2-PPL) as a contaminant. The novelty of the experiment lies in the utilization of a 1-D nanostructured WO3/CuO nanocomposite integrated with a carbon paste electrode (CPE). The hydrothermal method was used to synthesize the WO3 NPs, which were then characterized using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) techniques. Tungsten oxides (WO3) have been the subject of extensive study because of their many desirable characteristics, including their ease of preparation, tunable stoichiometry, crystal structure, particle morphology, 2.6 eV bandgap, excellent photocatalytic oxidation capacity, non-toxic nature, and widespread availability. The narrow band gap in CuO makes it an ideal sensing material. Copper oxide has applications in many different industries because it is a semiconductor metal with a narrow band gap in the spectrum of 1.2-1.9 eV and unique optical, electrical, and magnetic properties. Techniques like cyclic voltammetry (CV), and square wave voltammetry (SWV) were used. Real sample analysis was carried out in real-world samples like different types of soil, vegetables, and water. The electroanalytical sensor showed outstanding catalytic behavior by enhancing the peak current of the 2-phenylphenol with the potential shift to the less positive side compared to the unmodified carbon paste electrode in the presence of pH 7.0 phosphate buffer solution (PB). Throughout the experimental study, double distilled was used. Various electro-kinetic parameters like pH, accumulation time study, scan rate, concentration variation, standard heterogeneous rate constant, and participation of electrons, accumulation time, and transfer coefficient have been studied at WO3/CuO/CPE. The limit of detection was quantified together with the limit of quantification. Possible electrochemical oxidation mechanism of the toxic molecule was depicted. Overall, this research contributes to the field of electroanalytical sensing and offers potential applications in environmental monitoring.

WO3/rGO nanocomposite-based sensor for the detection and degradation of 4-Chlorophenol.

Chlorinated organic compounds are useful chemicals or intermediates that are used extensively in both industry and agriculture. The 4-chlorophenol (4CP) in low concentration poses a serious environmental problem and causes many health issues, including cancer and liver disease. In this work, we demonstrated the detection of 4CP at carbon paste electrodes modified using tungsten oxide (WO3) nanorods and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanoparticles. The significance of pH on the voltammetric response of 4CP was investigated, and it was discovered that an alkaline pH is an optimal condition for detecting substituted phenols. Moreover, parameters like heterogeneous rate constant, accumulation time, temperature effect, Gibb's free energy, scan rate, enthalpy, activation energy, and entropy were studied. The excellent catalytic and bulk properties of tungsten oxide nanostructures make it an effective modifier in electrochemical sensors. The employment of nanostructured WO3 for the assay of 4CP offers excellent sensitivity, selectivity, and applicability. The WO3 nanostructures are obtained hydrothermally and characterized in detail to understand the crystalline, quantitative and chemical properties. The electrochemical behavior of 4CP was studied utilizing voltammetry techniques. The CV technique was used to optimize and affect many factors in the electrochemical behavior of 4CP. The scan rate investigation helps to examine the physicochemical characteristics of the electrode process, and the electrooxidation of 4CP included 2 electrons and 2 protons. With 4CP, the modified electrode displayed a broad range of linearity. The limit of detection was determined to be 0.102 nM, while the limit of quantification was 0.3433 nM. The concentration of 4CP ranged between 0.1 × 10-7 M and 3.5 × 10-7 M. The fabricated electrode was also used to detect 4CP in soil and water samples. Good recoveries were obtained from the soil and water samples. The proposed electrode was used for analytical applications, including 4CP detection with high selectivity, low detection limit, sensitivity, and rapid response.

Analysis of herbicide and its applications through a sensitive electrochemical technique based on MWCNTs/ZnO/CPE fabricated sensor.

The electrochemical performance of linuron (LNR) was studied by fabricating the carbon paste electrode (CPE) using multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) along with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (MWCNTs/ZnO/CPE). The influence of electro-kinetic specifications involving steady heterogeneous rate, pH, sweep rate, temperature effect, transfer coefficient, accumulation time, activation energy, as well as the total number of protons and electrons participating in electro-oxidation of LNR has been established using voltammetric techniques like cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV). These techniques were applied to investigate LNR in real samples such as soil including water samples. Over the 0.02 µM-0.34 µM ranges, a linear relationship was confirmed along with the limit of detection and quantification (LOD and LOQ) of the LNR. The synthesized ZnO nanoparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The MWCNTs/ZnO/CPE sensor was considered sensitive for LNR detection because the sensor exhibited enhanced catalytic qualities with peak current in the involvement of 0.2 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS) of pH 6.0, attributed to the ultimate sensing performance of the sensor.